Don’t Throw Away Those Beet Greens!!

Often if I purchase beets or carrots or turnips or radishes or fennel at the farmers market, I feel like snapping off the greens and making my bag less unwieldy. Thankfully, I recently stopped this bad habit when it comes to beets since I started buying them every single week and began using the delicate greens as well as the colorful roots. They are truly the best cooked greens I make, even more so than kale, and they turn out more tender.

Beautiful Beet Greens

Here is how you do it, folks:

Cut the greens away from the beetroot and wash the greens well in a sinkful of warmish water. Remove the greens and dry them a bit but leave some water clinging to the leaves.

Put the greens in a large stock pot, but don’t add additional water. Cover and cook over medium heat for five minutes but be careful tso hey don’t scorch. Add a bit of water if necessary if they are dry and not tender yet. They cook down a lot, much like fresh spinach

When the greens are soft to the bite, remove from the pot with tongs, drain and put into a soup bowl. I then add the same dressing I always have on hand for my Asian-inspired salads and veggies, just enough to give the greens flavor. You could add anything, reallly. Butter? Lemon juice? Lime juice? Mustard dressing? Whatever you feel like on a particular day.

Marilyn’s Pan Asian Dressing

Ingredients

½ cup rice vinegar (unseasoned)

2 Tbsp tamari

1 Tbsp sugar (I tasted and added a titch more)

½ Tbsp sesame oil

3 Tbsp canola oil

Instructions

Whisk all ingredients well. You can add garlic, ginger, ground sesame seeds…just about anything. This dressing is pretty thin and watery so be careful not to over dress. After you coat your greens, sprinkle with white and black sesame seeds and eat.

One large bunch of greens feeds two eaters in my house. They are also good topped with a poached egg or with some soft ricotta cheese.